Dogs … A Reminder of Eden
- Pastor Jay Christianson
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
“God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority.’” (Genesis 9:1-2)
I used to be a cat guy.
As a kid, I really liked my cat, Tiger. He was your run-of-the-mill tabby that acted as every other cat does. He would sit with me, sleep on my bed, play with me, and let me pet him. Did you notice that? He let me pet him. You know cats. Everything has to be on their terms, or they’ll turn on you. I found that out.
The battle scars prove it.
Anyway, I began souring on cats during my college years when one went psycho. Seriously. I came home, and to my horror, the poor thing had accidentally offed itself, if you know what I mean. I’ll spare you the details. After that, there was a succession of family cats over the next thirty-plus years. I kid you not, each one eventually started spraying around the house. Carpet, walls, clothing that my kids left on the floor, and shoes! Shoes were the worst.
And then my wife and I bought a dog. Tobias Winston Pembroke Underfoot was his name. He was a delightful Corgi-Pomeranian mix with all the goodness of both breeds.
Except for the hair. Lots and lots of hair. Seriously, Toby could win gold, silver, and bronze in the Olympic dog-shedding competition. We could knit sweaters with his hair clumps and clothe half of Minnesota in the winter.
But I loved him anyway.
When it snowed, we knew it was a good storm because Toby would go outside to do his business, and the snow would be as high as his back. Yeah, I know. Corgis are short, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. But we would all say, “Yup. Pretty good storm. It’s one corgi deep.”
Throughout his 16 years, Toby returned love in abundance. He walked with us, nuzzled us, sat with us in the cool air and warm sunshine of the Minnesota autumns. He protected us from the daily threat of the mailman, salespersons, family friends, and Jehovah’s Witnesses who came to our door. He would sit at my feet as I worked on my sermons.
It reminded me of what I’ve read about the Garden of Eden.
In Genesis 2, Adam’s first God-delegated job was to name the animals. When I think of the immense variety of animals on our planet, how in God’s green earth did Adam accomplish that? Or maybe Adam began and was in the middle of working on how to spell “platypus” when the “Wait! All animals are paired up and there’s only one of me!” revelation hit him, and he finished the naming job later. Logically, I think it was the latter. I’ll ask Adam when I see him.
But then another thought came to me. The account of Adam and the Animals (sounds like a British 60s rock band) goes like this. “The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal;” (Genesis 2:19-20a).
I notice three things in these verses. 1) The animals were wild. Nowadays, we think of wild animals as dangerous. But not in Eden. It seems they were wild in the sense that they were “un-mastered” at first. Adam was the animal kingdom’s master on God’s behalf. Cool. 2) The Lord brought the animals and birds to Adam. It doesn’t say the Lord had to compel them, or force them, or drag them to Adam. It’s like the Lord walked them to Adam without the animals showing any fear of that naked guy just standing there. 3) Verse 20 says all and every. The man named all of the livestock, birds, and every wild animal. Hmm, maybe I was wrong. Maybe Adam put in a long day naming the entire animal kingdom. That’s awesome work, buddy.
But things changed. First, there was the Fall (Genesis 3). Then the world became a living hell (Genesis 4/6). Then God wiped the slate clean of humanity, during which Noah saved the animal kingdom on the floating family zoo (Genesis 6:19-21). Then, after the floodwaters drained and Noah’s human and animal crew disembarked, the relationship between humans and animals changed. Before the Flood, humanity had authority over the earthly creatures. After the Flood, humankind’s authority changed profoundly. We could now consume animals (Genesis 9:3). At the same time, the fear of humanity entered the land, sea, and sky creatures. After all, who wants to get eaten?
“God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority” (Genesis 9:1-2, italics author).
It seems that non-human creatures did not fear humanity in Eden. Peaceful human-animal coexistence apparently was the Edenic norm. The post-Edenic norm is animals’ fear of humanity, which is a good thing because greedy hunters and poachers would easily wipe out friendly creatures seeking a vigorous belly rub.
“Dogs are a man’s best friend” is one of the truest proverbs ever. I’ve known more dogs than not that were willing to trot up to an unfamiliar person and soon make friends. Unless the dog has been abused, even the most guarded dog begins to mellow with a bit of the ol’ ear scratch. Then you have a friend, possibly for life.
When I think of Toby, I think of how wonderful it will be when animals no longer fear people. I mean, who wouldn’t want a sociable otter or a pleasant little platypus paddling around in one’s backyard pool? Or a Siberian tiger lounging with you on a sunny day? Or a bird lighting upon the windowsill to sing you awake or lullaby you to sleep?
Except cats. They would have to learn to control their bathroom manners.
Anyway, God plans to restore Eden, and I know that will include a reboot of human-animal relations. Here’s the plan, revealed in God’s word.
First, through Jesus, the sin, guilt, punishment, and death problem that began in Eden will be eliminated. That happened at the Cross and is now working its way through humanity.
Second, Jesus will reign on earth to fulfill His Father’s promises (Revelation 20:2-3).
Finally, the world will be remade to its perfect pre-Fall Eden state, and humanity will be restored to our proper vice-regent position over God’s creation, of which the Messianic reign is a step along the way (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1).
So, how do we know that the relationship between humans and earthly creatures will change during the messianic reign?
Isaiah 11:1-5 is a clear description of the Messiah and His reign to come. Verses 1-2 refer to the “Branch,” a messianic nickname, and describe Jesus as the Holy Spirit-anointed Son. Verses 3-5 show Jesus in action during His regency.
Isaiah 11:6-8 shows the reversal of the creature-fear factor, from natural enemies to peaceful cohabitants. Even children, infants, and toddlers will play with normally venomous snakes that would usually strike out in fear of a human threat. There will be no fear on either side.
And Isaiah 11:9 reveals the extent of God’s peace and knowledge as global in scope. Eden restored.
To me, a friendly, loving dog reminds me of Eden—what once was and will be again. Every time a dog taps its owner with its nose to say it’s close, or a dog lies gently snoring on a lap, or a dog plays riotously with the neighborhood kids, it’s a little reminder of Eden in a very non-Eden world and a promise of great things to come.
I’m willing to bet dogs will hold a high place with humanity in the world to come.
But I’m still not sure about cats.
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Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead
Pastor Jay Christianson
The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts